Tuesday, May 7, 1968

Pacific Stars & Stripes

[Date unknown, May 1968]

[Mike's handwritten annotation at top: "* OUR HELO PICKED THEM UP" and "Navy Stars + Stripes"]

2 Jets Lost in N. Viet

SAIGON (AP) — The U.S. Command announced Monday that two Navy warplanes were downed Sunday in air strikes over the southern half of North Vietnam. Two of the three crewmen aboard the planes were rescued. *

Headquarters said one of the planes, a Navy F4 Phantom, fighter-bomber, was shot down by ground fire near Vinh, a North Vietnamese city about 145 miles north of the Demilitarized Zone. The two-man crew was rescued.

The second plane, an A4 Skyhawk was downed by unknown causes southeast of Vinh. The pilot is listed as missing in action.

There have been indications that the North Vietnamese command is taking advantage of President Johnson's curtailed bombing campaign to move heavy concentrations of antiaircraft guns into the southern panhandle. Pilots have been reporting heavy antiaircraft fire during recent raids in the vicinity of Vinh.

The latest downed planes raise to 830 the number of American warplanes lost in combat over North Vietnam in more than three years of bombing.

In the curtailed air war over North Vietnam, U.S. warplanes flew a total of 106 missions Sunday. Pilots reported destroying or damaging 12 water supply craft, three bridges and one radar site, 16 antiaircraft sites and two surface-to-air missile sites.

The Air Force's F111 fighter-bombers failed to fly any missions against North Vietnam Sunday for the second consecutive day.

There was no official explanation why the Thailand-based planes did not fly. They had resumed strikes only last Friday after they had halted bombing missions because of the loss of a third F111 on the previous day.

[Photo (top): Ltjg William A. Simmons is carried from the rescue helicopter minutes after landing

aboard the Jouett.]

JOUETT PARTICIPATES IN 2 SARS

Search and Rescue (SAR) is an important part of the Navy's role in Vietnam. The guided missile frigate

USS Jouett (DLG 29) played a vital role in the Navy's SAR effort recently when her crewmen rescued the

crewmembers of two planes shot down by enemy gunfire.

The ship participated in two rescues in 20 hours. In the first, the crew of the plane had to eject near

the Vietnam coast. Moments after the radio distress signal was picked up by the Jouett, she had launched

her rescue helicopter.

While the helicopter flew to the scene, friendly aircraft circled over the men, marking their spot for

the helicopter and keeping off unfriendly gunfire. The helo picked up the first survivor 16 minutes after

leaving the Jouett. Four minutes later the second survivor was rescued.

With both men safely aboard, the helo headed back to the Jouett, where the airmen were given medical

checkups, a tour of the ship and then taken back to their carrier, the USS Enterprise.

A few hours later, the second SAR alert was sounded. Another craft from the Enterprise was downed, this

time inland. Five minutes after the alert was sounded, the Jouett's rescue helo was airborne and flew to

the scene as the downed aviator's wingman circled overhead, marking the spot.

The pilot of the downed plane had extracted himself from his parachute and guided the helo to his

location, on a wooded hillside, by using his survival radio.

One helo crewmember lowered the rescue harness to the downed pilot while the other crewmember manned

the helo's machine gun, to cover the craft against sniper fire. The downed pilot was quickly taken

aboard the helo and transported to the Jouett.

After a checkup in sick bay and a tour of the ship, the pilot was returned to his aircraft carrier.

[Photo (bottom): The Jouett's medical team prepares the rescued aviator for evacuation to the USS

America.]